Effect of CuO-NiO as Co-catalyst on Photocatalytic Activity of TiO2(P25)

The photocatalysts, CuO loaded TiO2(Degussa, P25)(CuO/P25), NiO loaded P25 (NiO/P25) and CuO-NiO co-loaded P25(CuO-NiO/P25), were synthesized by impregnation and pyrolysis processes. The photocatalytic activities of the catalysts in the photodegradation of methyl orange under UV light were investigated. The results show that the photocatalytic activity of CuO/P25 is higher than that of commercial P25 and CuO call transfer and accumulate the photogenerated electrons to enhance the photocatalytic activity of P25. However, the photocatalytic activity of NiO/P25 is lower than that of P25, probably clue to its more negative conduction band position. The highly active mixtures of Cu and Ni oxides could be produced by the interaction between CuO and NiO so that the photodegradation efficiency of 0.5%CuO-0.1%NiO/P25 displays approximately 8%, 17% and 15% higher than that of 0.5%CuO/P25, 0.1%NiO/P25 and pure P25, respectively.